/ the model
Commission-Free, No Middleman: How Gig Actually Works
Every other services marketplace skims 15–30% off your work and sits in the middle of your payments. Gig takes nothing and never touches the money — and makes a living a completely different way.
Ask anyone who earns through an app — a cleaner, a tutor, a mobile mechanic, a photographer — what they actually take home, and the number is smaller than you'd think. Not because the work isn't worth it, but because somewhere between the customer's card and the worker's account, a platform reaches in and takes its cut.
That cut has a name nobody loves: commission. It's the quiet tax built into nearly every gig and services marketplace, and it's the first thing Gig set out to remove.
The hidden tax on every job you book
Most platforms charge a commission on each completed job, and the range is brutal once you add it up. A 20% take rate means a $100 job pays out $80. Do that fifty times a month and you've handed over a thousand dollars — not for tools, not for marketing, but for the privilege of being listed. On some apps the combined service and booking fees push the effective rate past 30%.
And it isn't only the worker who pays. Commission gets baked into the price the customer sees, so everyone loses a little so the platform can win a lot. The model is so normal that most people never stop to question it. We did.
Commission-free — and no middleman in your money
On Gig, the headline number is simple: 0%. We don't shave a percentage off a job, and we don't pad the customer's price with a hidden service fee to make up the difference.
But the bigger difference is this: Gig never touches the payment. There's no in-app checkout, no wallet, no payout waiting to clear. When a customer and a service provider agree on a job, they settle it directly — between the two of them, however suits them. Gig connects you and then gets out of the way. No middleman standing between the work and the money.
That changes the feel of the whole thing. Pricing gets honest, because there's no commission to bury inside it. Payment is just payment — the person who did the work deals with the person who wanted it done, full stop. One profile works both sides of the marketplace, so you can offer your skills or find who you need from the same account.
The customer pays the provider. Directly. Gig never sits in the middle of it.
So how does Gig make money? The store
If we don't take a cut and we don't process payments, the obvious question is how Gig keeps the lights on. The answer is a built-in store — and it's the part that actually sets our model apart.
Here's the idea. Gig does the legwork of finding the best products at the best prices, then puts them in front of users alongside related services — so when you're looking for help with a job, you also discover the products that help you get it done. Searching for a mobile detailer? You might see a genuinely good deal on the supplies that pair with it. Lining up a tutor? The store can surface the books and kit that fit.
That's where Gig earns: by being a great place to shop for things you actually need, matched to the moment you need them. It's the opposite of the commission model. Instead of profiting by taking from the people doing the work, Gig profits by helping users find products worth buying. The service side stays free and clean; the store is the business.
Why this model is different
On most platforms, the company makes more when it takes more — so its interests quietly pull against yours. On Gig, we only do well when the marketplace is busy and the store is genuinely useful. Keeping services commission-free, with no middleman in your payments, isn't charity. It's what makes the whole thing worth being part of, which is exactly what makes the store worth building.
No skim off the top, no middleman in your money, and a store that earns its place by being useful rather than by taxing your work. If you've ever watched a platform take a cut you never agreed to, you already understand why this matters.
Getting started takes about a minute
Gig is live on iOS and Android today. Download it, claim one profile, and you can offer a service or hire for one within minutes — describe what you need in plain language and the strongest matches surface, ranked by relevance, rating, and proximity. No commission, no catch, no reason to wait.